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Ike Turner, rock pioneer and ex-husband of Tina Turner, dead at 76
Wednesday, Dec 12, 5:24 PM (ET)
SAN DIEGO – Ike Turner, whose role as one of rock's critical architects was overshadowed
by his ogrelike image as the man who brutally abused former wife Tina Turner, died Wednesday at his home in San
Marcos, CA - a San Diego suburb. He was 76.
Turner died at his San Marcos home, Scott M. Hanover of Thrill Entertainment Group, which managed Turner's career,
told The Associated Press.
There was no immediate word on the cause of death, which was first reported by celebrity Web site TMZ.com.
Turner managed to rehabilitate his image somewhat in later years, touring around the globe with his band the Kings
of Rhythm and drawing critical acclaim for his work. He won a Grammy in 2007 in the traditional blues album category
for “Risin' With the Blues.”
But his image is forever identified as the drug-addicted, wife-abusing husband of Tina Turner. He was hauntingly
portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the movie “What's Love Got To Do With It,” based on Tina Turner's autobiography.
In a 2001 interview with The Associated Press, Turner denied his ex-wife's claims of abuse and expressed frustration
that he had been demonized in the media while his historic role in rock's beginnings had been ignored.
“You can go ask Snoop Dogg or Eminem, you can ask the Rolling Stones or (Eric) Clapton, or you can ask anybody
– anybody, they all know my contribution to music, but it hasn't been in print about what I've done or what I've
contributed until now,” he said.
Turner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is credited by many rock historians with making the first rock
'n' roll record, “Rocket 88,” in 1951. Produced by the legendary Sam Phillips, it was groundbreaking for its use
of distorted electric guitar.
But as would be the case for most of his career, Turner, a prolific session guitarist and piano player, was not
the star on the record – it was recorded with Turner's band but credited to singer Jackie Brenston.
And it would be another singer – a young woman named Anna Mae Bullock – who would bring Turner his greatest fame,
and infamy.
Turner met the 18-year-old Bullock, whom he would later marry, in 1959 and quickly made the husky-voiced woman
the lead singer of his group, refashioning her into the sexy Tina Turner. Her stage persona was highlighted by
short skirts and stiletto heels that made her legs her most visible asset. But despite the glamorous image, she
still sang with the grit and fervor of a rock singer with a twist of soul.
The pair would have two sons. They also produced a string of hits. The first, “A Fool In Love,” was a top R&B
song in 1959, and others followed, including “I Idolize You” and “It's Gonna Work Out Fine.”
But over the years their genre-defying sound would make them favorites on the rock 'n' roll scene, as they opened
for acts like the Rolling Stones.
Their densely layered hit “River Deep, Mountain High” was one of producer Phil Spector's proudest creations. A
rousing version of “Proud Mary,” a cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, became their signature song and
won them a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance by a group.
Still, their hits were often sporadic, and while their public life depicted a powerful, dynamic duo, Tina Turner
would later charge that her husband was an overbearing wife abuser and cocaine addict.
In her 1987 autobiography, “I, Tina,” she narrated a harrowing tale of abuse, including suffering a broken nose.
She said that cycle ended after a vicious fight between the pair in the back seat of a car in Las Vegas, where
they were scheduled to perform.
It was the only time she ever fought back against her husband, Turner said.
After the two broke up, both fell into obscurity and endured money woes for years before Tina Turner made a dramatic
comeback in 1982 with the release of the album “Private Dancer,” a multiplatinum success with hits such as “Let's
Stay Together” and “What's Love Got To Do With It.”
The movie based on her life, “What's Love Got To Do With It,” was also a hit, earning Angela Bassett an Oscar nomination.
But Fishburne's glowering depiction of Ike Turner also furthered Turner's reputation as a rock villain.
Meanwhile, Turner never again had the success he enjoyed with his former wife.
After years of drug abuse, he was jailed in 1989 and served 17 months.
Turner told the AP he originally began using drugs to stay awake and handle the rigors of nonstop touring during
his glory years.
“My experience, man, with drugs – I can't say that I'm proud that I did drugs, but I'm glad I'm still alive to
convey how I came through,” he said. “I'm a good example that you can go to the bottom. ... I used to pray, 'God,
if you let me get three days clean, I will never look back.' But I never did get to three days. You know why? Because
I would lie to myself. And then only when I went to jail, man, did I get those three days. And man, I haven't looked
back since then.”
But while he would readily admit to drug abuse, Turner always denied abusing his ex-wife.
After years out of the spotlight his career finally began to revive in 2001 when he released the album “Here and
Now.” The recording won rave reviews and a Grammy nomination and finally helped shift some of the public's attention
away from his troubled past and onto his musical legacy.
“His last chapter in life shouldn't be drug abuse and the problems he had with Tina,” said Rob Johnson, the producer
of “Here and Now.”
Turner spent his later years making more music and touring, even while he battled emphysema.
Robbie Montgomery – one of the “Ikettes,” backup singers who worked with Ike and Tina Turner – said Turner's death
was “devastating” to her.
“He gave me my start. He gave a million people their start,” Montgomery said.
Accolades for Turner's early and later work continued to come in as he grew older, and the once-broke musician
managed to garner a comfortable income as his songs were sampled by a variety of rap acts.
In interviews toward the end of his life, Turner would acknowledge having made many mistakes, but maintained he
was still able to carry himself with pride.
“I know what I am in my heart. And I know regardless of what I've done, good and bad, it took it all to make me
what I am today,” he once told the AP.
**********
Ike Turner is certainly one of the most dehumanized figures in rock history. Mention his
name and the first association that comes to most anyone's mind is "abusive husband," not "soul
star" or "rock & roll pioneer." According to legend, Turner was a tyrannical ogre who used physical
violence and psychological intimidation to control his infinitely more talented wife Tina, while indulging his
own appetites for cocaine and women at every turn. That's not entirely accurate, although by most accounts Turner
did quite a bit to earn that reputation; he spent time in prison due to his drug problems, and his own refutations
of Tina's allegations of abuse have been inconsistent at best over the years. Still, this view of Turner as villain
does a disservice to his very real musical legacy as an instrumentalist and bandleader. As a pianist in the early
'50s, Turner helped lay the groundwork for rock & roll; he was also a distinctive guitarist with a biting,
nasty tone, and was one of the first to make the whammy bar an integral part of his sound. It's true that he was
nowhere near the singer Tina was, and it's probably also true that she was his ticket to stardom; moreover, his
songwriting, while sometimes inspired, often possessed a generic quality that made consistent chart appearances
difficult. But as a bandleader, his disciplinarian approach -- when it wasn't manifesting itself in darker fashion,
that is -- resulted in undeniably tight, well-drilled ensembles and some of the most exhilarating live shows the
R&B world ever saw -- centered around Tina, yes, but spectacles nonetheless. If Turner isn't exactly the most
defensible character around, in the end his musical strengths and weaknesses deserve the same objective appraisal
as anyone.
Izear Luster Turner, Jr. was born November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, MS, the heart of the segregated South. His father
was beaten to death by a mob of angry whites, and growing up in a hostile environment unquestionably hardened Turner.
He found his calling in music from an early age; he learned boogie-woogie piano firsthand from his inspiration,
Pinetop Perkins, and as a teenager talked himself into a DJ slot on the local radio station, where he played everything
from the jump blues of Louis Jordan to country & western. He formed his first band while still in high school,
and by the late '40s had assembled an outfit dubbed the Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, the Kings of Rhythm traveled
to Memphis to record at Sam Phillips' Sun studio. Their original tune "Rocket 88" (actual authorship
is still disputed) was recorded with a lead vocal by sax player Jackie Brenston, and as a result was released under
the name Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, not Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm. "Rocket 88"
zoomed to the top of the R&B charts and is today regarded by many critics as being quite possibly the first
true rock & roll record. Brenston subsequently departed for an unsuccessful solo career, while Turner and his
band became session regulars around Memphis; they went on to back legendary bluesmen like Howlin' Wolf ("How
Many More Years"), Elmore James, Otis Rush ("Double Trouble," "All Your Love"), Robert
Nighthawk, Buddy Guy, and Sonny Boy Williamson II, plus an assortment of Sun artists. During the early '50s, Turner
switched from piano to guitar, and also doubled as a talent scout for the Bihari Brothers' Los Angeles-based Modern
Records, where he helped get early breaks for artists like Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King.
During the mid-'50s, Turner moved the Kings of Rhythm to East St. Louis, where they rose to the top of the local
R&B circuit; Brenston rejoined in 1955, and the group also continued its session activity. Turner sometimes
issued records under his own name on labels like Flair, RPM, and Federal, also using the aliases Icky Renrut and
Lover Boy. Adopting a revue format for their live performances, the Kings of Rhythm worked with a revolving group
of vocalists during this period. One was a teenaged singer originally from Tennessee named Anna Mae Bullock, who
met Turner in 1956. She joined the revue, and moved into Turner's house after becoming pregnant by the band's sax
player; soon, she and Turner began their own relationship and had a child of their own, marrying in 1958.
Renamed Tina, Turner's new (and latest) wife got her first chance to sing lead on a recording in late 1959, cutting
"A Fool in Love" for the Sue label. Released the following year, the song was a runaway smash on the
R&B charts, peaking at number two. Turner realized he'd discovered a potential breakout star, and reshaped
the band into the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with Tina now the centerpiece of the act. It took a little time
for all involved to get their bearings, but in the meantime, the hits kept coming; "I Idolize You," "It's
Gonna Work Out Fine," "Poor Fool," and "Tra La La La La" all hit the R&B Top Ten,
a string that ran through 1962. (All except "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" were written by Turner.) 1962
also saw the release of Dance With Ike & Tina Turner & Their Kings of Rhythm Band, an all-instrumental
album that showcased Turner's unpredictable guitar work at its best. As Ike & Tina became one of the hardest-working,
most popular acts on the so-called chitlin circuit, they recorded for a number of independent labels over the next
few years; however, since Turner's original material was increasingly standard-issue, their chart fortunes declined
somewhat.
At the same time, the temptations of fame were proving too much for Turner; he developed a severe addiction to
cocaine that, when mixed with his dominant personality and quick temper, made for a volatile combination. According
to Tina's autobiography, Turner grew increasingly violent, beating her frequently and even burning her with cigarettes
and coffee if she got out of line. Turner himself disputes the severity of Tina's claims, but it's worth noting
that he had a widespread reputation for being difficult. When producer Phil Spector attempted a commercial comeback
around Tina in 1966, he struck a deal with Turner: in exchange for being allowed to record Tina, Ike would receive
full credit and billing on the records, but Ike would also not be allowed to set foot in the studio or to meddle
with the finished recordings. Spector's collaboration with Tina produced the epic "River Deep - Mountain High,"
still regarded by many as one of rock's greatest singles, and Ike's involvement was nil -- which, naturally, didn't
sit well with him.
In 1969, Ike & Tina were invited to open for the Rolling Stones, and Turner realized that changing times had
made the Revue's rough, nasty brand of soul music more palatable to white rock audiences. Accordingly, Turner incorporated
contemporary rock & roll covers into the Revue's repertoire, giving them a whole new lease on life. Versions
of "Come Together," "I Want to Take You Higher," and "Proud Mary" revived Ike &
Tina's chart fortunes -- especially "Proud Mary," which became their first Top Five pop single in 1971
and also won a Grammy. However, Turner's off-stage problems were taking their toll on the act; 1973's "Nutbush
City Limits," a song written by Tina, would be their last major hit, and Tina walked out on him in the middle
of a 1975 tour.
The Turners' divorce was finalized the following year, and Ike never quite recovered from the loss. For a while,
he quit touring to settle in and run the recording studio, Bolic, he'd opened in Los Angeles in 1970. He was too
accustomed to life on the road, though, and formed a new outfit that, naturally, didn't measure up to his past
success; he also released a couple of solo records on Red Lightnin'. Turner's cocaine addiction drained most of
his finances, and his recording studio burned to the ground in 1982. He ran afoul of the law as well, and was arrested
numerous times on mostly drug-related offenses. When he and Tina were jointly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1991, he was unable to attend the ceremony because he was serving prison time. When Tina's autobiography
was adapted into the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do With It, Turner signed away all of his rights, allowing the
filmmakers to take narrative liberties for dramatic effect if they chose. Turner attempted a comeback after being
released from prison; he also remarried and finally overcame his addictions to live a clean, sober life. At first
he tried to keep up with the times musically, but after touring with Joe Louis Walker as a pianist and guitarist,
he realized there was more demand for his original style, and formed a new version of the Kings of Rhythm. His
autobiography, Takin' Back My Name, was published by a U.K. company in 1999, and in 2001 he released a new album,
Here and Now, which was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues Album category; it was also nominated
for several W.C. Handy Awards (the blues equivalent of the Grammys) and took honors for Comeback Album of the Year.
Risin' with the Blues, released five years later, was nominated for a Grammy in the same category.
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